Holiday prices in and out of school term-time – how big is the difference?

The UK supreme court this week ruled against a father who took his daughter out of school to go on holiday. A look at how much prices change when schools break up shows why parents are tempted to do the same

The travel companies behind all those adverts full of smiley, suntanned parents and children playing happily on beaches want you to believe that family holidays are priceless. But, as most families with school-age children are already all too aware, sun, sea and sand cost more in the summer.

Parents who wished to take advantage of cheaper, off-peak holiday rates used to be able to bend the rules a little, as headteachers at state schools in England were allowed to grant up to two weeks’ term-time holiday for pupils with good attendance. But in 2013 new regulations banning term-time absences were brought in.

Fast-forward to April 2015, when father Jon Platt took his daughter out of school for a seven-day break. Platt was initially successfully in challenging a £60 fine imposed by Isle of Wight council. But on Thursday the supreme court upheld the fine.

So how big is the difference in price outside term time? Travel currency website FairFX looked at the price of family holidays (based on two adults and two children aged 5 and 7) to nine destinations, comparing prices in June and July (during the school term) with those in August (after the school holidays begin).

The results are predictable but no less frustrating for parents: every single holiday cost more in August with the average holiday costing £905 more than in July and £1,310 more than in June while in one case the price of a holiday jumped by 126% between June and August, a £1,903 difference.